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Below is a family biography included in The History of Sumner County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Prof. W. A. Haynes, A. B., B. D., is a native of Cornersville, Giles Co., Tenn., born in 1834, and the son of David and Rebecca (Warren) Haynes. The father was born in 1800, in Giles County, Tenn., was of Irish extraction and a farmer by occupation. He remained in his native county until about 1840, when he moved to Kentucky, and then to Illinois, where East St. Louis now is. He died in 1848. His wife was born in Bedford County, Tenn., in 1808, and died in 1845. They had nine children (seven of whom are living), our subject being the fourth. He was quite young when his parents died, leaving him to care for himself. At the age of seventeen he entered the Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tenn., and completed the full course, both literary and theological. He graduated in 1859 as A. B. and B. D. During the civil war he enlisted in Company C, Eighteenth Regiment Tennessee Infantry (Confederate Army), and at the time of the reorganization he was transferred to Company C, Thirteenth Regiment, and was elected chaplain of the company. At the end of the first year Prof. Haynes returned home and he and J. D. Kirkpatrick organized Company C, Bennett’s regiment, J. D. Kirkpatrick being elected captain and Prof. Haynes first lieutenant. He took part in seventeen battles, and at Hartsville was wounded in the right arm, which disabled him for three years. He remained, however, in service until the close of the war, when he returned and entered the teacher’s profession at Laquard’s, where he taught three years. December 30, 1866, he married Miss Mittie Cowen, a native of Wilson County, born in 1830, and the daughter of James Cowen. They had four children: Sallie, Docia (deceased), Katie and Pearl. In 1867 Prof. Haynes moved to Brownsville, W. Tenn., and was elected principal of the Brownsville Male Academy, where he remained ten years, with the exception of one year, when he was in charge of the Baptist Female College. In 1877 he came to Gallatin and the same year was elected president of the Howard Female College and held the position five years. During his years of teaching the Professor has also had charge of churches of his faith, the Cumberland Presbyterian doctrine. For the past, nine years he has conducted services in Beach Church, ten miles west of Chattanooga. It has the largest attendance of any church in Sumner County. Prof. Haynes is a fine scholar and an eloquent and forcible speaker. He is a Democrat in politics, but was a Whig previous to the war, voting for Fillmore in 1856. He is a member of the following orders; Masonic, I. O. O. F., K. of P., K. of H., L. and K. of H., Iron Hall and the G. T. His grandfather, John Haynes, was a native of North Carolina and immigrated to Giles County about 1800. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.

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This family biography is one of 115 biographies included in The History of Sumner County, Tennessee published in 1887.  The History of Sumner County was included within The History of Sumner, Smith, Macon & Trousdale Counties of Tennessee. View the complete description here: History of Sumner, Smith, Macon and Trousdale Counties of Tennessee

View additional Sumner County, Tennessee family biographies here: Sumner County, Tennessee

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